System and method for buying and selling energy

Abstract

A system for buying and selling energy, includes a user interface which receives a user input to transmit an offer to buy or sell energy, a processor, and a memory, the memory storing instructions to cause the processor to function as an energy forecaster which generates an energy forecast for a vehicle, and a transaction manager which manages a transaction based on the energy forecast and the user input.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for buying and selling energy, comprising:
 a user interface which receives a user input to transmit an offer to buy or sell energy;   a processor; and   a memory, the memory storing instructions to cause the processor to function as:
 an energy forecaster which generates an energy forecast for a vehicle; and 
 a transaction manager which manages a transaction based on the energy forecast and the user input. 
   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the energy forecast comprises one of:
 a forecasted amount of energy available to charge an electric vehicle; and   a forecasted amount of energy necessary to operate an electric vehicle.   
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a data collection module that collects user data, user trip data, and energy price data,   wherein the energy forecaster generates the energy forecast based on the user data, user trip data, and energy price data.   
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the user data comprises user location data, the trip data comprises trip schedule data, and energy price data comprises energy market price data. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the energy forecaster forecasts the amount of energy based on the data collected by the data collection module. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the user interface provides to a user, the data collected by the data collection module. 
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 1 , further comprising:
 a network interface for interfacing with a network.   
     
     
         8 . The system of claim of  claim 7 , wherein the network interface comprises:
 a transmitter for transmitting:
 an offer to buy or sell energy; and 
 an acceptance of an offer to buy or sell energy; and 
   a receiver for receiving:
 an offer to buy or sell energy; and 
 an acceptance of an offer to buy or sell energy. 
   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein the network comprises the cloud. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 7 , wherein network comprises a server for synchronizing and recording transactions, and for determining a location for charging an electric vehicle of an energy buyer by an energy seller. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the energy seller comprises a commercial truck, and the location for charging the electric vehicle comprises a location of a scheduled stop for the energy seller. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the user comprises a user of an energy provider vehicle, and the energy forecaster interfaces with a vehicle management system which manages the energy provider vehicle, to acquire from the vehicle management system, data including:
 an amount of energy available to be sold from the energy provider vehicle;   a consumption rate of energy of the energy provider vehicle;   a schedule of the energy provider vehicle including a time, location and duration of a next scheduled stop of the energy provider vehicle; and   a current location of the energy provider vehicle.   
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 3 , wherein the user comprises a user of an energy consumer vehicle, and the energy forecaster interfaces with a vehicle management system which manages an energy consumer vehicle of the user, to acquire from the vehicle management system, data including:
 an amount of energy needed to operate the energy consumer vehicle;   a consumption rate of energy of the energy consumer vehicle; and   a current location of the energy consumer vehicle.   
     
     
         14 . A computer-implemented method of buying and selling energy, the method comprising:
 receiving a user input to transmit an offer to buy or sell energy;   generating an energy forecast for a vehicle; and   managing a transaction based on the energy forecast and the user input.   
     
     
         15 . The method of  claim 14 , wherein the energy forecast comprises one of:
 a forecasted amount of energy available to charge an electric vehicle; and   a forecasted amount of energy necessary to operate an electric vehicle.   
     
     
         16 . The method of  claim 14 , further comprising:
 collecting data comprising user data, user trip data, and energy price data,   wherein the generating of the energy forecast comprises generating the energy forecast based on the user data, user trip data, and energy price data.   
     
     
         17 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the user data comprises user location data, the trip data comprises trip schedule data, and energy price data comprises energy market price data. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the generating of the energy forecast comprises forecasting the amount of energy based on the collected data. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 16 , wherein the receiving of the user input comprises receiving the user input via a user interface which displays the collected data. 
     
     
         20 . A computer program product for buying and selling energy, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions executable by a computer to cause the computer to:
 receive a user input to transmit an offer to buy or sell energy; and   generate an energy forecast for a vehicle;   manage a transaction based on the energy forecast and the user input.